Cosmic Crisis 3 - A New Enemy

Chapter 27 - Shiroi no Tenshi

Gotenks bent down and looked at Carina cautiously. She was seemingly conscious, but her eyes were flat and emotionless, and her face was contorted into a blank stare. Then, her eyes faded into the same red color that they had been before, and she blinked. Gotenks jumped back a couple of steps as Hermes laughed.

"Ah, the moment you've all been waiting for." He said, holding the Carina's stone up to eye level.

"STOP!" came a cry from the other side of the room. Hermes raised an eyebrow and looked to see Sirius step forward. "Don't you dare."

"Come and stop me, prince." Hermes mocked.

"Even if she wanted to, she could not transform under your power." He said. "Because your intentions are not pure."

"Purity does not matter." Hermes argued.

"Yes it does! Why do you think it's called Shiroi no Tenshi, the white angel??" Sirius barked. "Because you have to have a pure heart to achieve it!"

"She is in her pure form, however." Hermes countered.

"Form, yes, but not mind." Sirius argued.

Hermes looked at Sirius in silence for a few seconds before growing enraged.

"Do not challenge me!" he hissed, extending his hand and knocking Sirius backward telekinetically.

"If...you try to do it..." Sirius said, sitting up. "You will kill her before she can achieve that status."

"Even so, I will still have preserved that power."

Carina, finally having achieved total consciousness, stoop up slowly, blinking a few more times. She then held out her palm and studied the object in the middle: the red stone. Orion's stone.

Orion noticed her movements and looked down at her.

"Carina...what do you have?" he whispered to her. She turned around with a curious expression and held up the stone. He stared at it, holding up his hand to take it. As soon as his hand was on top of hers, a ki blast slammed into the two of them, tearing them apart and sending the stone flying.

Everything traveled in slow motion as the delicate stone plummeted toward the hard, cold floor. Orion fell backward, his eyes widening, and barely managed to catch himself with his hands.

Carina was also knocked backward and twisted around from the impact before slamming onto the floor. She tried to jump up, but she was pinned by her own ki, obviously Hermes' doing.

Just as the stone was about to crash into the floor and shatter into thousands of tiny, glittering pieces, a hand slipped under it and broke the fall, enclosing around it protectively.

Everyone looked up, expecting to see Gotenks, but instead, Trunks landed on his side, stone in hand, while Goten flew in the opposite direction.

"W...what happened?" Reena whispered. "They broke apart!"

Hermes laughed and floated to the ground while Trunks winced in pain, struggling to get up.

Reena looked at him with fear in her eyes. Not only had Gotenks split apart, but Trunks had broken his shoulder from the fall. She then scanned the area for Goten, and found him in near the left wall, supporting himself with his elbows as he listed his torso off of the ground.

"What are you doing! Get up!" she cried, running toward Goten. Hermes stepped in the way and she slammed into his chest, bouncing off and landing on her backside.

"Reena...little Reena..." he mocked, taking a step toward her. She scooted back in fear, keeping her legs to her chest as a form of protection. "How would you like to be the...motivation...for your princess over there?" he asked.

"M...motivation?" Reena stammered.

"That's right." Hermes said venomously. "We just put your life in danger, Carina gets mad, and there you have it. What do you say?"

Reena gulped and tried to scoot further back, but he held her in place with his mind.

Goten stood up shakily and saw Hermes towering over Reena, who seemed to be frozen in her tracks with a look of terror on her face. Jumping up, Goten raced over to the frightened girl and stood in front of her.

"Leave her out of it." He said, bringing his hands above his waist in anticipation.

"Tell me Saiya-jin..." Hermes started, noting Goten's tail. "Do you know what it feels like to lose control of your own ki and have it burn you alive?"

Goten paled and broke out in a nervous sweat as he forced himself to stand.

"N...no..." Goten said meekly.

"Do you want to become accustomed to the sensation?"

Goten took a few steps back, drawing closer to Reena.

"Then I suggest you get out of my way." Hermes ordered.

Goten stood, unmoving. Even though his instincts told him to run, since his own ki was weakened, but his heart told him to stay and protect Reena.

Growing impatient, Hermes growled at Goten and powered a ki blast in his hand. Goten, still not moving, ignited a ki shield in front of his body as well as Reena's.

Sirius turned to Ceres, who was standing next to him.

"Ceres...can you still lock onto his ki?" he asked.

"Iie...I am not strong enough to do so, and his ki is higher than mine." She replied.

"If you channel it through mine, will it work?" he suggested.

Ceres paused for a few seconds and spoke.

"I don't know, I've never tried it before." She said. "What do you want to do?"

"You need to diminish all control of his body so that the others can attack." He replied.

"It is certainly worth a try." Ceres said, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "This may or may not hurt, depending on whether you feel the same effects I do."

Sirius nodded and closed his eyes, trying to imagine just hot much it would hurt. Ceres did the same, and concentrated to the silhouette of Hermes that burned in her retinas.

Hermes could feel the familiar sensation of invasion in the back of his mind, and knew that someone was trying to lock onto him. His eyes scanned the room and stopped when he focused on her form.

"Sirius..." she whispered shakily, her eyes still closed. "I think he sees us. I can translate some of the brainwaves."

"Just keep it up, Ceres." He said, and increased his ki to help her. Finally, he was hit with a terrible, agonizing pain in his head. He knew that Ceres had most likely accomplished her goal.

Hermes cursed as the sensation grew in intensity until he could barely keep his consciousness. Those damned Sidra-jin guardians were trying to take control of him. Finally, after a few more seconds, his arms dropped and his body hung in the air.

Goten watched in confusion as Hermes' body went limp, yet he still remained standing.

"Goten!" Reena cried, leaping to her feet. "Ceres is doing it again!"

"Doing what?" Goten questioned, his voice heavy with perplexity.

"She is controlling his ki! Hurry and attack him!" she said, and then threw a ki blast at Hermes. It burned into his chest but did not do major damage. Goten then made the connection and powered up a blast of his own.

Trunks had managed to pull his body off of his now limp shoulder, holding the stone in his left hand while his right hand dangled to the side. He looked in Sirius and Ceres' direction, and noted that they were preoccupied, and then looked at Orion, who was standing next to Carina. They both had blank expressions on their faces. Then, he looked at Goten, who was right about to hurl a blast into Hermes' chest. He immediately raced over to his friend.

"Goten!" Trunks cried. "What's going on?"

"Hermes lost control of his body again, and we have to kill him before he regains it." He replied.

Trunks nodded, obviously in comprehension. However, when he went to power a ki blast, he realized that he was still holding Orion's stone in his hand. He couldn't place it in his right hand, because it was limp, and he didn't have any pockets. He certainly wasn't going to put it on the ground. He then saw the glimmer of something else in the distance. Something gold.

"Carina's stone..." he whispered to himself, and turned to Goten. "You and Reena take care of this, I'll be right back." He said, and then took off.

He landed next to the stone, which was lying on the ground, surrounded by a ki bubble. He reached down to grab it, but the ki bubble surrounded it protectively like steel armor.

"Shit!" he cried, and placed Orion's stone on the ground. He reached for Carina's stone again, trying to push back the miniature ki shield with one of his own. Still, no success.

Trunks was about to give up when the shield started to flicker, and finally disappeared completely. Looking at Hermes, he realized that it was probably because he was no longer in control. Grabbing both stones, Trunks raced to the other side of the dark, cubic room, near Sirius and Ceres.

Reena and Goten both had their respective ki blasts in their hands and they held them next to each other.

"Together?" she said, looking at Goten.

"Together." Goten replied. They both aimed at Hermes with deadly accuracy.

Just as they were about to fire, an elbow slammed into the back of Goten's head and he flew forward, landing on the stone floor and skidding to a halt, unmoving. His ki immediately dropped to about a level of five and then stopped. Reena, horrified, turned to see Carina standing extremely close to her with an evil smirk on her face.

"Carina!" Reena cried, dropping her blast. "Why did you attack Goten?"

"I can't allow him to kill Hermes...it's against the rules." She said. "Besides, if you do, what will come of me?"

"You will still live. Your life is preserved in the stone." Reena said nervously. "Carina listen to me. Hermes is controlling you and making you do things that you normally wouldn't do."

"Like...this?" Carina said, and punched Reena in the chest, sending her flying backward toward Goten. Reena stopped herself and stepped forward again, doubled over and coughing.

"C...Carina...please don't...let him control..." Reena trailed off, and finally coughed up a small amount of blood.

"Now, Reena, I didn't hit you that hard. Have you grown weaker?" Carina mocked.

"No, Carina!" Reena said angrily, a trail of blood running down her chin. "Hermes is going to kill you! He only keeps you alive so that he can preserve your ki for his own use! After he does this, he will have no use for you, or Orion!"

Carina narrowed her eyes.

"He wouldn't do that." She said.

"He would. Do you know why he preserved Orion?" Reena continued. "Do you?"

"So that I would have a mate." Carina replied simply, crossing her arms.

"Right...so that you would produce offspring." Reena answered, growing more determined by the minute. "Do you know why he wants you to have children? So that he can steal them from you!"

"Liar!" Carina cried angrily, and pounced on top of Reena, sending them both tumbling toward the wall. About halfway there, Carina stopped and pinned Reena to the ground. "How dare you make those accusations!"

"He said it so himself." Reena explained. "While you were unconscious. Carina don't let him do this to you! He took away everything that you were, and everything that you were to become."

Carina's eyes momentarily flashed green and her face softened, but they regained their unnatural red color and she grimaced angrily again.

"This is what I am." Carina said.

"No..." Reena continued to challenge. "He has changed time. These Saiya-jins...they are your friends. The come from the time that you used to live in. You were in love, Carina. But now, because of Hermes, you have no memory of it."

Carina punched Reena in the face, her face filled with bitterness.

"That's not true!" she cried.

"It is true! Turn around and look at that Saiya-jin!" Reena said, looking at Trunks, who had his eyes on them. "Look into his eyes!"

Carina did not move, she only continued to glare at Reena.

"No." she hissed.

"Just do it. Look at him."

Carina slowly and reluctantly turned her head. As they locked eyes, Carina felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. The blue eyes were so calming and so sincere. Carina's red eyes welled up with tears as she looked at him.

"Now do you realize that I was telling the truth?" Reena asked. "Hermes wants to kill him!"

"No!" Carina cried, jumping off of Reena and standing on unsteady legs. She placed her hands on her knees and tried to stay balanced. Reena sat up and looked at the distressed girl. She was torn between two identities.

"Don't let Hermes kill the Saiya-jin." Reena urged. "Stop him. Don't let him control you anymore."

Carina continued to tremble and look into the blue eyes of Trunks, who was standing across the enormous room. Her eyes were flooded and were no longer able to contain the tears as they slowly dripped down the side of her face and coming to a stop on the underside of her chin, where they hung in the air.

"How...how do I stop him?" Carina whispered. "What can I do?"

"Become the legend." Reena replied.

"I...I don't know how." Carina said, and turned to Reena. The purple-haired girl opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a powerful ki blast through her chest. Carina shrieked and spun around to see Orion standing over her. His eyes had now become the fiery red color that she had possessed.

"Don't listen to her." He said. "She is trying to save herself."

Carina turned back to Reena and screamed. The girl was lying in a puddle of her own blood, just as Sirius had been. But now, there was nobody to heal Reena, because the healer was Reena herself. She dropped to her knees and took Reena's lifeless body into her arms.

"No! Reena don't let go!" she cried. "You saved me! I will destroy Hermes and make everything right again! Reena..." she trailed off. She closed her eyes and screamed.

Her screams were brought to a standstill, however, as Orion grabbed her by the shoulder and jerked her to her feet.

"You pathetic little traitor!" he hissed. "How dare you listen to her foolish words over mine??"

"Y...yours?" Carina stammered, still trying to choke back tears of grief and horror. "But Orion-"

"Orion is dead. I had to...borrow his body." He spoke. Carina's eyes widened in revulsion.

"Hermes..." she trailed off.

"That's right, it's me. I have to say I don't know why I didn't make this choice sooner...this body is more powerful than I had imagined."

"Bring him back! Bring Orion back!" Carina cried, and connected her fist to his chest. However, Orion/Hermes grabbed her wrist and twisted it into a painful position.

"I told you, he is dead." He replied.

Ceres recoiled in pain and fell backward, losing her grip on Sirius' shoulder.

"Ceres!" Sirius cried. "What happened?"

"Hermes...I...can't control him. There is no ki." She stammered.

Sirius turned around and looked at the limp body of Hermes, lying flat on the floor. He moved his eyes further past that and saw Orion grabbing Carina by the throat and lifting her into the air. He realized what had happened and cursed loudly.

"Kuso, Ceres!" he shouted. "He switched bodies!"

"That's impossible!" Ceres cried in disbelief. "But..."

"But nothing. He did it." Sirius replied. Suddenly, there was a crunching sound, and they both turned to see Trunks. At his feet, there were thousands of tiny shards...

"Orion's stone." Ceres said, and then looked at Orion. He remained unfazed.

"Trunks it's useless! He's no longer Orion." Sirius said. He saw that Trunks also had Carina's stone in his hand. "Break it."

"What?" Trunks asked, looking at Sirius in skepticism.

"You heard me." Sirius said. "Break Carina's stone."

"Are you crazy?? She'll die!" Trunks said, outraged.

"No she won't. Just trust me." Sirius argued. Trunks looked at Sirius suspiciously for a few seconds of silence and brought the white and gold crystal into his palm, looking down at it. Closing his eyes, he brought his hand back and threw the stone at the ground with all of his strength. Shattering on impact, the crystal exploded into hundreds of points of light before spreading out and floating to the ceiling.

The three warriors all looked over at Carina, who was still in Orion/Hermes' grip. She was still alive.

Carina gasped in pain as Orion/Hermes punched her in the chest while holding her neck in his arms.

"That one is for turning against me." He said, smiling as he got some sick pleasure out of hitting her. He then punched her again. "And that one is for doing it again."

Carina shuddered as pain racked her body. Her red eyes were swollen slightly from crying and her cheeks were flushed. Suddenly, she started to see stars. Convinced that she was about to black out, she closed her eyes. However, she remained conscious. Opening her eyes again, she saw the tiny stars of light surround her body, absorbing into her skin. She felt a warm sensation all over and felt her ki rise. In fact, it rose with such east that Carina had to convince herself that she was not in a dream.

Orion/Hermes was thrown back by sharp the increase in her ki and produced a look of rage as he stood up again. Carina closed her eyes momentarily and then opened them to reveal the emerald green color that was hers.

"Now what!?" Orion/Hermes shouted, looking around the room. He spotted the three warriors in the distance. They were the ones responsible for this turn in events. He jumped up and started to move toward them, but he was stopped when he slammed into an invisible wall. Orion/Hermes turned around to see Carina, standing upright, with her hand above her head, obviously having generated the forcefield.

Carina's green eyes looked into the red eyes of Orion/Hermes and she remained silent and still. Pinning Orion/Hermes to the floor with the same invisible force, Carina turned and looked down at Reena's body. The puddle of blood around it had grown to twice its size and it shone in the light of Carina's ki. She then turned back to Orion/Hermes.

"You wanted to see the show." She spoke, her voice unnaturally calm and steady. "I will allow you that one final privilege before you cease to see forever."

Orion/Hermes glared at her and made several attempts to move, but he was pinned.

"You cannot kill me. I am in his body." Orion/Hermes argued.

"Orion is dead." Carina said. "Now it's your turn."

Her ki flared again and expanded, filling the entirety of the vast, dark room with its brilliant white light. Everything froze in time, for just a moment, and then it was over, and the light slowly faded until it surrounded only her.

Orion/Hermes stared in disbelief at the sight before him. Carina was standing perfectly still, with a calm, serene expression on her face. Her aura had changed from gold to a soft white. Her brown hair was now streaked with gold, and it draped over her shoulders, bouncing off of the white wings that extended from her back. But most of all, her green eyes pierced into Orion/Hermes' mind.

"Sh...Shiroi no Tenshi..." Orion/Hermes said, blinking. That was the last thought to ever pass through his mind.

Carina had him by the neck and instantaneously lowered his ki and crushed the life out of him. When he was dead, she hurled him across the room. His body hit the wall with a sick crunching sound of bones breaking before sliding down the wall and slumping down onto the floor.

Turning to Reena again, she knelt onto her knees and placed her hand on Reena's forehead. Immediately, Reena opened her eyes as the gaping hole in her chest healed, leaving behind no scars. The only evidence that she had been hit was the hole in her bodysuit.

"Carina..." she spoke, her eyes wide in amazement. Carina just turned and looked at Goten's limp form, which was sprawled on the ground twenty feet away. She ran over to him and healed him as well. His neck realigned itself and his ki jumped back up to its stationary level. Goten stood up next to Reena, who had joined the two, and they both looked at the winged girl.

"Who are you?" Goten asked.

Carina smiled at him.

"Son Goten, I am Shiroi no Tenshi, the white angel."